initial

CEFRC1

/ɪˈnɪʃ.əl/

adjective · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Happening at the beginning of something.

  2. 02

    noun

    The first letter of a name.

Examples

  • The initial symptoms of the disease are fever and sore throat.

  • The novel had an initial print run of 10,000 copies.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
4
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Spatially first, placed at the beginning, in the first position; especially said of the first letter of a word.

  2. The first letter of a word or a name, especially of a person's full name (their initials).

  3. Chronologically first, early; of or pertaining to the beginning, cause or origin.

More examples

In context

  • There is an initial payment of £60 followed by ten instalments of £25.

  • Our initial admiration for their efficiency gave way to disgust about their methods.

  • The initial letter of names is usually printed with a capital letter.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The blank step in the entire experiment requires careful measurement of all chemicals.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Middle French initial or directly from its Latin etymon initiālis (“of the beginning, incipient, initial”), from initium (“a going in, entrance, beginning”), from inire (“to go in, enter upon, begin”), from in (“in”) + ire (“to go”).